Central Police Operations Support Team of the Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF) with the assistance of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) uniform patrols conducted an anti-gambling operation shutting-down Illegal Street gambling in areas of White River to Town Ground and Mission Place (Point Cruz) on 29 April 2022.
A total of eight sites were raided and shut down with police enforcing the law under Section 4 (1) of the Games & Lottery Act ‘Gaming in a Public Place’ and under provisions of the current State Of Emergency which prohibits groups of gathering while the covid-19 pandemic continues.
Supervising Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Superintendent Jimson ROBO said, “Operation Stopem Gambling 2022” is an operation of twofold design. With the ongoing assistance from AFP, we have raided eight public venues where gambling was being conducted.
PPC Robo said, first, the operation was to stop gambling which we know can lead to social and family problems such as domestic violence over spent money and this also leads to breakdowns in the community. Secondly, the operation was also conducted to enforce the current State Of Emergency regulations which prohibits large public gatherings while the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the broader Honiara community.
Superintendent Robo said as you can see from this operation, we will operate in this space all year if we have to. Friday’s joint operation with the AFP is only phase one, which is a ‘shut-down’ and ‘warning’ phase. Encourage people not to conduct Illegal Street gambling and congregate in numbers.
Mr Robo says, “The next phase will likely involve charging those who continue to disrespect the law. Police receive information on these gatherings and develop intelligence on gambling venues and will respond accordingly and strongly. I remind all communities, even those just outside Honiara, if you are conducting these illegal activities, we will find out, and we will be taking action.”
“With the ongoing assistance of the AFP, anti-gambling raids will continue and the laws of the Solomon Islands will be enforced,” says PPC Robo.
– Police Media Unit
